Small Bites: Green bell peppers, jowl bacon, granola and more

The line between mature and ripe is a major distinction in growing food. Large-scale producers pick produce when it's mature, when all the sugars are set but haven't developed. Avocados and tomatoes are good examples of items picked mature, packed and shipped before they're ripe and ready to eat.

One joy of shopping at a farmers market is that area growers are able to pick ripe fruits and vegetables for the the day of market and select varieties to grow based on their flavor, rather than their ability survive a 1,500 mile journey.

However, in the case of green bell peppers, you'll still be buying them mature rather than ripe. That's because left on the vine, all bell peppers eventually change color, ranging from red to yellow to dark purple. But they all start off green. Nature's building block chlorophyll is the coloring agent and predominant flavor, a taste that many people object to as bitter.

But that bitterness can compliment and contrast with other flavors. A good example is Creole cooking's holy trinity of green bell pepper, onions and garlic. Used in red beans and rice, the bitterness of the green pepper makes the meal taste more complex. Try it yourself by adding them to everything from chili and soups to sandwiches and salads.

Ever heard of jowl bacon? It's the smoked and cured meat from the cheek of a pig and traditionally used in Southern cooking in dishes such as black-eyed peas and collard greens. But this deliciously fatty and salty meat has other uses besides adding flavor to soul food. Jowl bacon can usually be found in any local supermarket's meat section with the other random assortment of pork bits and sausage. If the bacon lovers reading this aren't already drooling, there's more good news: Compared to the price of pre-sliced belly bacon, jowl bacon is a bargain (we found it for $1.99 a pound at Fred Meyer). Jowl bacon comes packaged as a chunk of meat, which is ideal for those who would like to cut their own thick slices. Besides serving it with your morning eggs and toast, it can be thickly sliced and grilled -- perfect for your next camping trip.

There are four flavors (all vegan), made with locally sourced nuts, seeds, dried fruits and oats, including super foods like flax and chia seeds and cocoa nibs. We particularly loved the bitter chocolate variety, made with three kinds of chocolate, and the aromatic rosemary, which had a savory quality you don't find in most granolas. They're good eaten by the handful, and lovely sprinkled over ice cream.

It used to be forbidden to cut lettuce with a knife. Only tearing by hand or cutting with a plastic knife was acceptable. But according to Cook's Illustrated, there's no reason not to cut lettuce. The magazine's report on plastic lettuce knives found that lettuce cut with a metal knife showed very faint browning on the edge after 12 days, while lettuce cut with a plastic knife browned slightly after 13 days, and hand-torn lettuce lasted 14 days. And who keeps salad around for two weeks?

-- The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer

Foodie TV Pick: "Ice Cream Nation"

Just as summer weather begins to heat up comes this special featuring the best ice cream shops from coast to coast. Expect cool treats including floats, sundaes and cones, with plenty of unusual flavors.